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each devil his own

Transmission Gallery is pleased to present the work of Erik Parra. each devil his own will be an exhibition of paintings, drawings and a site specific installation that draws on tropes of the horrific, mid-century aesthetics and politics to ask questions about the origins of certain current sociopolitical narratives in the vernacular of pictorial construction. In three small series of original compositions Parra conflates his personal history and knowledge with mid-century historical narratives in order to view important, current social concerns through the lens of history. This serves as an entryway into a process of constructing images that draw on our conceptions of space and the stories we tell ourselves in order to navigate the environments we build.

For this exhibition the interior plays host to a range of potential conversations related to aesthetics, politics and history. Central to this exhibition is an examination of postwar historical narratives; such as white flight and the American space program and their challenging effects on contemporary society. Both darkness and lightness are employed to present not only familiar looking interior spaces but also for their expressive narrative effect. Objects within each painted interior are chosen for the potential of their symbolic form to be both simultaneously loaded and banal. This duality then resonates with similar formal choices within the work and drives the potential to open new space to create productive dialogue with the attendant issues. Parra is interested in drawing on our collective cultural memory as informed by the histories of painting, film, aggressive underground music and radical politics in order to paint a critical, collective self-portrait at a very critical time.

Greetings! I have updated the installation section of the site to include @Home,the cool project that I made this past summer while in residence at Project Grant in Buffalo, NY. Through this residency I was able to work with an amazing community to create a really ambitious project.

From the Project Grant website:

“ERIK PARRA arrived on Monday, July 6, from San Francisco, to be an artist in resident for two weeks. Over the course of this time, we hosted Free Drawing and Painting Workshops at the Old First Ward Community Center. The works created became a part of an interactive public sculpture that the community members assisted on with the fabrication and design of. The grand opening of the piece happened for the City of Night Festival, Saturday, July 18, from 6pm-12am….”

I am extremely excited to be participating in a group exhibition titled Botanica: All Things Plant LIfe at the Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts.

The exhibit runs from July 12 through September 6,2015. An opening reception will be held on Sunday July 12, from 3- 5 pm, admission is $5.
Unfortunately I will miss the opening as I will be in Buffalo but I am available for a walk through of the exhibit upon my return to San Francisco in late July. If you are interested please send me a message.

About Botanica, from the Bedford Gallery website:“From 16th Century Flemish painters, to Cézanne and the Post Impressionists, the color and variety found in plant life, as well as the potent symbolism, has made it a popular subject for still-lifes and artist studies. Botanica asks artists to draw on these themes to create artwork that explores how plant life can be represented in a diverse reach of media.”

For more information about the exhibit please click here, and for more about the Bedford Gallery please click here.

I will be heading to Buffalo, NY on Monday, July 6, to be an artist in resident for two weeks. Over the course of this time, we will be hosting Free Drawing and Painting Workshops at the Old First Ward Community Center. The works created will become part of an interactive public sculpture that the community members will assist with in the fabrication and design of. The grand opening of the piece will be on display for the City of Night Festival, Saturday, July 18, 6pm-12am. This project is funded by the Emerging Leaders in the Arts Buffalo, and materials are provided by Hyatt’s and The Golden Foundation.

Project Grant will also be doing a special one night only workshop as part of the First Friday Art Walk in Buffalo on Allen Street, in partnership with Indigo Gallery. This event is Friday, July 10, 6-9pm.

The next “Gathering” is scheduled for Wednesday, July 15 at 7pm. I will be the guest speaker for this session, sharing his views on growing up near the border as a Mexican-American in Texas, and his strong maternal ties. If you would like to attend or more information, please send an email to:projectgrantbuffalo @ gmail dot com.

The Southern Exposure auction is one week away! I am happy to have donated a piece in support of this vital Bay Area Arts institution. The auction will take place on March 21, 2015 at SoEx’s 20th street location in San Francisco. For more information on the auction, including advanced online bidding visit the SoEx auction website.

For more information about the tons of ways SoEx supports artists and the greater community visit the SOEX website.

All of the installation galleries should be up and running with thorough documentation of each project. For each gallery I combined my personal documentation with the official documentation of each installation to provide as clear a picture as possible of each space. Additionally there is a new stop motion video on the installations page from Capturing the Void an installation I made at a commercial gallery in Portland, OR in 2013.